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    War over Iraq moves in to the classroom

    The controversy over the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is being fought on a new front - in the classroom.

    The National Union of Teachers voted at its annual conference to reject armed forces recruitment in schools if it was perceived to use misleading propaganda'.

    The union decided to back any staff who want to boycott military recruitment campaigns.

    Delegates at the NUT's annual conference in Manchester lined up to condemn the tactics of the MoD in targeting teenagers with "misleading" information they said glamourised war.

    The union backed a motion committing the NUT to "support teachers and schools in opposing Ministry of Defence recruitment activities that are based upon misleading propaganda".

    The motion committed the NUT to holding a summit of teachers, education experts and campaigners to consider the issue of military recruitment in schools.

    However the MoD has dismissed the claims of bias and states that it does not actively recruit in the UK's schools.

    A spokesman for the MoD said: "We do not recruit in schools. The single-service schools teams visit about 1,000 schools a year between them - only at the invitation of the school - with the aim of raising the general awareness of their Armed Forces in society, not to recruit.

    "The Defence Dynamics programme is a set of web based resources whose use is completely voluntary.

    "We have consulted widely with teachers and students during the development of these products and feedback from schools has been extremely encouraging.

    "They are designed to support teachers in delivering a range of subjects across the National Curriculum and its equivalents in Scotland and Wales. We are happy to engage with the NUT to discuss further."

    The spokesman said the material being referred to is part of a proposed English course on creative writing and includes two articles one critical about the Iraq conflict and the other positive.

    The NUT's motion was also rejected by a Bradford representative of another teaching union, the NASUWT.

    Pam Milner, its Bradford branch secretary, said: "I think the NUT has nothing else to talk about and is merely trying to get media attention.

    "For some students the Army will be the saving of them. Students know what they are taking on and to say this is recruitment of innocent children is misleading and unfair.

    "At 16, if you go to a recruitment event you will find out whether the Army is for you or not. I think young people have their eyes open far more than we give them credit for. I think this is another example of not allowing them to grow up."

    11:05pm Tuesday 25th March 2008

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